Chuck vs Christmas at Westside
by P.J. Murphy
Summary: Chuck and Sarah are ready to celebrate the holidays with Ellie and Devon.  But when Devon is called away to emergency surgery and Ellie goes into labor, it is up to our favorite agents to help.  One-shot Christmas fluff.  Total Charah.  Merry Christmas!


_Hi there. Hope everybody is having a wonderful Christmas Eve/Day, depending on where you are in the world. I decided to keep my holiday tradition going, and now we're starting the rotation again with Christmas. This is more of a sweet and sentimental story. Feel free to read and enjoy. And if you could throw in a review or two, I'd appreciate that._

_The Who Are You Challenge will be starting soon, and the theme is "holiday cheer." Enjoy those stories, including the one I threw in._

_Hope you have a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas!_

_**

* * *

Echo Park  
December 24, 2010  
9:00 PM**_

Ellie took a look around at the table, but it didn't help her mood. She could take solace in the fact Chuck and Sarah were there, and John Casey promised to stop by later, as he was taking Alex to the airport to visit her grandparents in Phoenix. Even Morgan would have been a welcome addition, but he was enjoying the holiday with his mother and Big Mike. Perhaps 'enjoying' was too strong a word for what Morgan was doing with the holiday, given that he had to work with the man who was sleeping with his mother.

But the person she wanted here the most couldn't be here. Devon wasn't even supposed to be on-call tonight, but Dr. Lathan came down with the flu, and Devon was moved up to be the on-call surgeon. Of course, Murphy's Law was in full force this Christmas Eve, and he was summoned to the hospital six hours ago, just as Ellie was preparing the _hors d'oeuvres_ for dinner. What was supposed to be a simple coronary stent procedure turned into a triple-bypass operation for someone who should have been taking care of themselves ten years sooner.

The worst part was not even being able to get upset at anybody. She knew this could happen. It just seemed to happen at the worst times. And being 34 weeks pregnant didn't help, since she was now on maternity leave and wasn't at her job. She resented Devon a little for being able to continue working while she sat at home and got ready to be a mom.

"Sis, the dinner was wonderful," Chuck replied as he got up to clear the plates. Ellie started to get up. "No, stay there. I can get this."

But Ellie pushed herself up and started grabbing items. "I swear, Chuck, the next person who tries to do something for me will be strangled."

Chuck was taken aback. "I…was just…I always do the dishes," he stammered.

Ellie exhaled. "Sorry, I'm just tired. I want this to be over. The waiting around is driving me crazy. I just want to be a mom and start raising my daughter. I'm tired of being treated like I have some fatal disease. Everybody keeps tiptoeing around me. That's almost as bad as being bloated and tired all the time."

Sarah quietly grabbed a few dishes and made her way to the kitchen, attempting to stay as unobtrusive as possible. She figured that was the best thing to do right now. She began loading the dishwasher, primarily to give Ellie as much space as possible.

"Sorry, El. We were just trying to help."

"The best way to help is to stop helping," Ellie sniped at Chuck. Ordinarily she would never talk to Chuck that way without cause, but the frustration and physical toll of being so pregnant had gotten to her.

Ellie carried the large carving tray to the kitchen and suddenly stopped. Sarah's eyes widened and she grabbed the tray before Ellie lost her grip on it. Ellie's hand immediately went to her stomach.

"Uh, there wasn't anything wrong with the turkey, right?" she asked in a bit of hope.

Chuck shook his head. "Nope, you did your usual stellar job with it."

Her breathing returned to normal. "OK, then that must have been a contraction. Chuck, do you have a stopwatch?"

Chuck was starting to get nervous. "Whoah, the baby's coming? Wait, I have one on my phone." Chuck pulled out his phone and frantically looked for the correct app on it.

"Oooh, never mind," Ellie said as she hung onto the counter for support. "I just had another one. I think it's safe to say that wasn't two minutes."

Chuck's nervousness was now full-blown panic. "OK, the baby is coming. Should I call Devon?"

Ellie shook her head. "They won't interrupt the surgery for this. I think I'm going to need some help here."

Chuck took her hand and led her to the couch. "Ellie, uh, what…what should we be getting?"

"Clothes, I'll need clothes." Ellie's breathing was becoming labored, and she tried to run through her breathing exercises. "I was going to pack that bag tomorrow, and…"

"On it," Sarah replied as she raced for Ellie's bedroom.

"Sarah, there's a small UCLA teddy bear on the dresser. Make sure you bring that," Ellie tried to shout to her.

"What's that for?" Chuck asked.

"It's good to have a focal point, something to concentrate on, during the childbirth process. Devon bought that after reading all those baby books."

"OK, what can I do?" Chuck asked while approaching hyperventilation.

"First of all, breathe. You're messing me up here. Then, get the minivan and pull it up to the entrance."

"Get the minivan, get the minivan," Chuck repeated as his breathing continued to go out of control. "Are you sure I can leave you…"

"GO!" Ellie shouted. Chuck bounded out of the apartment, turned and darted back in to get the keys to the minivan, and sprinted out again. Sarah brought a suitcase into the living room and handed Ellie the bear.

"How are you doing, Ellie?" she asked.

"Fine, but the contractions are definitely getting worse."

"OK, just…just keep breathing. You know, what they taught you."

Ellie turned to her and tried to smile through the contractions. "You never had to deal with this before?"

Sarah shook her head. "You're the first person I ever knew who had a baby."

"I just wish I knew how you could be so calm. Chuck's freaking out, I'm freaking out, and I'm sure Devon would be freaking out right now if he was here…"

"Believe me Ellie, I'm panicking right now. They don't really go over this in agent training."

"You do such a good job of hiding it. I'm totally jealous."

"I seriously doubt I'd be this calm if I was in your shoes. I'm not the one who's about to be a mother."

"Yet," Ellie replied.

Sarah's eyes got a little wider. "OK, NOW you're making me freak out."

Sarah heard the engine from the minivan outside, and she carefully pulled Ellie up. Ellie leaned on her shoulder for support as Chuck rushed in and grabbed the suitcase. Ellie clutched the small teddy bear in her hand as the three made their way to the minivan.

_**Westside Medical Center  
December 24, 2010  
10:00 PM**_

Sarah helped Ellie into a wheelchair as Chuck looked for a parking spot.

"Dr. Bartowski, good to see you," the admitting nurse said. Everybody at the hospital still used Ellie's maiden name to avoid confusion on the paging system. "We got your call, and they're getting everything ready for you."

"Always good to have reservations," Ellie replied, trying to remain in a good mood.

"Good luck! We can't wait to see your new baby!" the admitting nurse called as Sarah wheeled Ellie to the maternity wing. Sarah was impressed.

"If I knew I was going to get that treatment from the people at the hospital, I'd get injured more often," Sarah said.

"It helps to work here and have everybody like you," Ellie replied.

Chuck came running down the hall. Sarah stepped aside to let him wheel Ellie the rest of the way to the birthing room.

"I'll go wait for Devon and bring him there," Sarah said as she raced to another part of the hospital. Chuck quickened his pace down the hall as Ellie's labor nurse came running up.

"Hi, Dr. Bartowski," the labor nurse said. "How are we feeling?"

"Like I'm about to give birth," Ellie replied with a tinge of annoyance. How else was she supposed to feel right now? "The contractions are barely a minute apart now."

"Not a problem. Everybody's ready for you."

An orderly held the door open for Chuck and Ellie as they entered the birthing room set up for her. Chuck and the nurse carefully helped Ellie into the bed, and Chuck held Ellie's hand as the nurse and a lab technician prepared monitors and birthing stirrups for Ellie. Sarah came running in.

"Devon should be in done in twenty minutes," she said in a rush to catch her breath.

Ellie screamed as a big contraction hit her. Her grip on Chuck's hand approached the point of breaking bone.

"OK, uh, breathe Ellie. Breathe, that's what they're supposed to tell you right? Can we get you anything? Glass of water? Another pillow?" Ellie screamed from another contraction. "A couple of priests? One old, one young?"

"There's an ice bucket over there," the labor nurse replied as she finished setting up the equipment. Sarah quickly filled a glass with ice chips and gave it to Chuck.

"Here you go, El," Chuck replied. Ellie reached over between contractions to take a few ice chips from the glass.

"Chuck, keep talking to me, just keep talking," Ellie said. "It helps."

Chuck picked the wrong time to develop stage fright. "Uh, well…uh…um…" Ellie couldn't believe it.

"Oh, great! Now you decide to be quiet! Where was that when I was fourteen and trying to make out with Tony Rossi on the couch?"

"You're doing great, Ellie," Sarah replied in a soothing voice. "You are totally ready for this. Just keep breathing like they told you."

Chuck finally snapped out of it. "Sorry, Ellie. Just…you're doing great. You're gonna get through this. You know what to do."

Ellie exhaled in relief between contractions as the doctor arrived. Sarah looked at Chuck, who was calmer than he was moments ago. "I'll go get Devon. He should be done by now."

Sarah sprinted out of the birthing room and ran upstairs to the surgical ward. She found the post-op room and saw Devon washing his hands after surgery. She knocked on the door. Devon turned to see who it was and went into shock.

"Sarah, what's…what's…"

"Ellie's in labor. She's downstairs."

"Ellie's here? She's…we're having a baby." Devon couldn't move an inch. "We're having a baby. I'm about to be a father…"

Sarah grabbed his hand and pulled him hard. "Come on!"

Devon ran out of the post-op room, only to slip and fall on the floor. Sarah turned and went back to him.

"These damn things," Devon angrily growled as he removed the shoe cover he had on while in surgery. Sarah quickly removed the other one and pulled Devon to his feet. They ran down the stairwell to Ellie's room.

Devon burst through the door as Ellie was getting ready to give birth.

"Devon, thank God," Chuck said as his knees tried to give way. He held out the hand of Ellie's he was holding. "OK, this is yours. Take it quickly, or I may never be able to play videogames again."

"I would be so upset if that happened to Chuck," Sarah deadpanned.

"Thanks, thanks so much you two. I can't tell you how relieved…"

"Later, Devon!" Ellie screamed as the doctor readied them for their new child.

Chuck and Sarah left the room. Chuck took two steps and collapsed on a nearby bench.

"OK, I take back anything I ever said about having kids. Forget it. I can't go through that. And that was only the delivery! I was freaking out, and I'm just the uncle. I don't have to change her twenty times a day! I don't have to deal with her when she learns the word 'no' and use it every waking moment! I don't have to deal with threatening every single boy she wants to date!"

"Chuck!" Sarah sat down next to him and took his hand. "You did great in there. You didn't know you'd have to help Ellie get to the hospital. You weren't expecting to stay in there while Devon finished surgery. But you did it. You always step up when the pressure is on. You do it all the time as an agent and you did it tonight."

Chuck took a deep breath and looked at Sarah. "But how do you do it? Everything that needed to be done tonight and it was second nature to you."

She wrapped her arms around him. "Honestly, I am ready to fall apart right now. I really need someone to hold me. It's…I never thought I would ever get to see this. To be part of it."

Chuck held her tightly. "I'm glad you were here. There's no one I want to spend this night with more than you."

She gazed into those sweet brown eyes and she knew, like she had known for so long now, this was her home. With the man she loved. The man she held in her arms at that moment.

They nodded off to sleep on that bench holding each other. They were awakened some time later by a tap on Chuck's shoulder. Chuck slowly awoke and looked up. Devon was standing there with a few tears on his cheeks.

"Well?" Chuck quietly asked.

The largest smile Chuck ever saw from Devon spread across his face. "She's 7 pounds, fourteen ounces, born at 12:16 AM, and she's perfect!"

Chuck and Sarah rose and hugged Devon tightly.

"Thank you two so much for everything you did," Devon said, although he was barely able to keep his emotions in check. "This is…it's…it's…"

Chuck smiled and hung on to Devon. "It's awesome, Devon. It's awesome." The three continued to hug.

_**Westside Medical Center  
December 25, 2010  
1:15 AM**_

__Ellie's eyes were red from all the crying she did when her daughter came into the world. And as much as she wanted to hang on to her little angel, she knew they would be taking her to the nursery to keep an eye on her while she got some much-needed rest. Devon, Chuck, and Sarah were gathered around the two. Chuck had already taken some pictures with his mobile phone and emailed them to Devon's parents.

"We were thinking of Mary for her first name," Ellie told Chuck and Sarah.

Chuck thought about that for a moment. "Is that because she was born on Christmas or are you naming her for…"

Ellie smiled. "A little bit of both."

"What about a middle name?" Sarah asked.

Ellie and Devon looked at each other. "We decided since the first name was for someone close to us, the middle name should be, too. That's why we want her middle name to be Sarah."

Sarah was stunned. She didn't know what to say. She had been given so much by this family…stability, friendship, love…she almost felt like what she had done, no matter how substantial, was still not enough. And they wanted to name their child after her? She remained silent as tears formed in her eyes.

"Is that OK, Sarah?" Ellie gently prodded. Sarah didn't realize she had been silent for so long. Slowly, a few words managed to come to the surface.

"That's…I'm so honored, Ellie. But if it's OK with you, I think Samantha works so much better for her middle name."

Chuck turned to her and smiled. He gently held on to her shoulders. "I agree. Samantha is even better."

Sarah turned to Chuck in surprise. _How does he know?_

Ellie and Devon looked at each other. After a moment, they nodded their consent. "Mary Samantha Woodcomb. Are you sure, Sarah?"

Sarah nodded as she tried to hold back her tears. "Yes, I'm sure."

The attendants from the nursery came by with a small gurney. Ellie gave her new daughter an emotional hug and kiss, and Devon gently kissed the top of her head. Sarah took Chuck's hand and led him out of the room as Ellie reluctantly gave Mary Samantha to the attendant.

Sarah turned to Chuck and took his hands. "How do you know about Samantha?"

Chuck looked at the ground. "It…I overheard it when you were talking with Daniel Shaw and I was with those two mob guys pretending to be Rafe Gruber. Rafe was supposed to kill Shaw and had the room bugged."

Sarah stared in shock. "Why…why didn't you tell me?"

"I…I figured you would tell me when you were ready."

Sarah looked at the ground in shame and her grip on Chuck's hands tightened. "I'm sorry, Chuck. I should have told you long ago. Everything you've done for me, and I should have been honest with you…"

Chuck took her face in his hands and gave her a passionate kiss. "You don't have to be sorry. It doesn't matter what your name is or what you did in the past. None of that matters. I've...I've been in love with you since the day you walked into the Buy More, and I can't imagine spending the rest of my life with anybody else. I love you, and I want to be with you forever."

Sarah slid her hands over his face and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. "I love you too, Chuck. I've always loved you, and I always will."

They held onto each other tightly. "Merry Christmas, Samantha," Chuck whispered tenderly into her ear.

She held him tightly and kissed him on his cheek. "Sarah. You've always known me as Sarah, and I've never been happier in my life. I want to be Sarah."

Chuck stared into those sparkling sapphire eyes. "You are. You're my Sarah."

Their lips met in a loving and adoring kiss.


End file.
